We’re All in This Together: Communicating With Kindness About the Coronavirus

Since the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19), Nextdoor has been monitoring the community impact around the world. We have seen neighbors across the globe sharing important information, offering help, requesting assistance, and discussing ways to safely support their communities.

As a community-building platform, we want all neighbors to feel welcome, safe, and respected when using Nextdoor. This is important in good times and absolutely essential in times of crisis and need. In response to the coronavirus outbreak, we’ve made several important updates so that neighbors can continue to connect in a respectful and informed manner and to reduce the spread of misinformation and stigmatization.

How to talk about the coronavirus

In accordance with guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO), we ask that members only use the terms “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” when discussing the current pandemic. Messages that refer to the virus or disease in other ways, particularly in ways that may stigmatize or stereotype a group of people, are subject to removal. We encourage members to have thoughtful, respectful discussions about the coronavirus, but stigmas and harmful stereotypes have no place on our platform. Please visit the Nextdoor Help Center for more information on permissible terms regarding the coronavirus.

Treat your neighbors with compassion

These are tough times for neighbors everywhere, so it is important to treat each other with kindness and compassion. Neighbors are working from home, home-schooling children, sharing cramped living spaces, caring for a sick family member, or all of the above. And many people are experiencing much more difficult situations than this. When posting about a neighbor on Nextdoor, we ask you to slow down and consider not only the tone of your post or comment, but also what your neighbor might be going through.

Last year, we announced a new feature to promote kindness on Nextdoor. This feature was developed with an advisory panel of academics and experts to help us understand how to keep neighborhood conversations respectful. If a member replies to a neighbor’s post with a potentially offensive or hurtful comment, Kindness Reminder is prompted before the comment goes live, and the member is given the chance to reference our Community Guidelines and reconsider or edit their reply. In recent weeks, we modified the Kindness Reminder to remind neighbors, particularly in this difficult time, that we’re in this together and to be compassionate.

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Gmail

Remember that we are all neighbors and we are all in this together—now more than ever. For more information on Nextdoor’s response to COVID-19, please visit our Coronavirus Resource Center.

You may also like

Get Nextdoor Blog updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to our blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

Nextdoor is the neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods, and services. We believe that by bringing neighbors together, we can cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on.